I once had a statistics class that on the first day the professor gave us the
following example: If you put one foot in a bucket of ice water and the other in
a bucket of boiling water statically you would be just right, and then he added,
but we all know this is not truly the case. The key statement in this article
was "not scientific". No doubt that BYU has a popular fan base here in
Utah among the LDS faithful and in some other areas with a large concentrations
of the LDS membership. Then a lot depends on how you define "National",
is it two percent or .0002 percent of the public. Until you scientifically
define your terms, to say it is a national brand may be just as much a stretch
of the stats as my professors example above.

I would have enjoyed watching a few Utah football games on TV but every time I
looked for a Utah game on TV, all I could find was BYU games. I enjoyed watching
the Poinsettia Bowl very much, especially the last quarter. Couldn't find
Utah in a bowl game though for some reason.

From the Common Consensus Sports Survey, "Important: this map is highly
inaccurate and should be understood only as a demonstration, and not as any kind
of reliable data yet."Jeff Call should be embarrassed to publish such
subjective material. Just read his bio and you will know why he wrote this
piece.

Oh and by the way, I remember watching the Utah/BYU game on TV (the only Utah
game I could find on national TV all season) and what did the entire nation see
at the end of the game? Ute fans storming on to the field before time expired
and then caught on camera and broadcast for the entire nation to see, a drunk
Ute,cursing out Bronco Mendenhall as he walked off the field! Embarrassing!

Wow, talk about a slow news day. The fact this article is printed as
"news" is amazing. With the LDS church having members living in these
areas, and many of them "voting" for byu as their favorite team, and
then reporting it as "news", is a new twist on an old tale.

I'll bet the same "survey" could reveal most "voters" are
repuplican, women don't wear pants to church and list green jello, with
shredded carrots, as a favorite food item. Also, I'll bet in mqny of these
places the local ward basketball team would be listed ahead of Utah, Utah State,
or Weber State as a favorite team, so what is the relevence.

That is
the laughable part. The cougar nation mistakenly believes exposure means
relevence. Just because members of the lds church vote for byu as a favorite
team, or the games are on espn, doesn't make it any more relevent, or
surprising, than the catholics listing Notre Dame as their favorite team.

Interesting to contemplate the discussion about Utah versus BYU gear. If you
have a "U" on your car is says "I support a secular university
football team but I am saying nothing about my values, beliefs, religion,
etc." If you have a "Y" on your car I think most people would agree
that a person is projecting a little more than simply support for a football
team. I know a lot of folks that are cougar fans but given how polarized Utah
is about religion, just don't want to go down that path. I also know a lot
of folks who use their support for the Utes (and contempt for BYU) as a metaphor
for their hatred of mormons or the LDS church.

Lucky for you that you can find Utah vs BYU games. I
hope you enjoyed the the games as much as I did. Specially the the last quarter
when the Muss tried to give the game away, and you still couldn't beat a
bad Utah team.

The Poinsettia Bowl had the lowest viewership of all the first week of bowl
games, drawing less than the New Mexico, and less than Utah State in the Potato
Bowl (gasp!) If you want to draw a respected conclusion, use a scientific
survey, not an online one.

This is a pretty damaging study, actually. #5 in the DFW market, a market with
little interest in college football outside Texas, A&M, and Oklahoma (and
even or Texas Tech)? #2 in Tucson? What, did you expect to be #1? All this
shows is that BYU has some alumni spread out over the landscape -- not that it
has a following. (I guarantee that if BYU and Texas were playing at the same
time on separate channels in DFW, the BYU ratings would so far below Texas'
that you couldn't even see them.)

I'd like to see a survey
that wasn't self-selecting (web surveys are usually dismissed out-of-hand),
used a solid methodology, and excluded BYU graduates. That'd be the real
sign of BYU's national following, if it existed.

Polls tell us a little. Checks from ESPN tell us a lot. BYU hasn't caved on
independence and isn't likely to as long as they are getting five or six
big national or regional games each season. As far as merchandise sales in Utah
go, those with an inferiority complex always try to over-compensate.

OK...so BYU is beloved in the state of Utah (surprise surprise), and has a
pretty decent national following. Great. But why is it that most BYU fans I
speak to seem to be pretty disappointed in how things are going and are not
thrilled with their coach, current direction, and the liklihood of a BCS bowl
game or a (legitimate)national championship? Yet, when I speak to most Ute fans
they had a pretty good time, all things considered, last year as USC and other
national programs CAME TO UTAH for games. Get excited about independence,
popularity, etc. - ultimately these statistics do not translate to wins or trips
to BCS games. I've said it time and time again - I would much rather have
some down years, with an occasional undefeated season and trip to a BCS game
than consistent meaningless 8-10 win seasons capped with a boring win over SDSU.
6-3 half time score? Really? I guess Lark wasn't all everyone thought he
was cracked up to be.

Some people are also mistakenly thinking "voters" are byu alumni. As I
stated, that is simply not the case. The response to the survey was from members
of the LDS church, not from byu alumnus scattered around the U.S.

Many, byu fans outside of Utah, don't even know where Provo is, let alone
can claim they have ever set foot on the campus of byu. They are "fans"
of the LDS church, so therefore, fans of byu. That is a distinction that must be
clarified.

Yeah I'm sure a lot of Utah fans are
"jealous" that they beat your team this year, yet again. It
doesn't really matter what points you bring up, BYU still lost to Utah.
I'd like to see you change that fact.

So let me get this straight...In a down season, Jeff Call is looking for
something to feel good about....How about a popularity contest! Not a win loss
record the way athletics are actually measured, but some kind of self-esteem
trophy everybody gets for participating. And who is surprised by this survey?
Nobody who understands that it was focused on high concentration areas of LDS in
the Country...and is it news? Of course not. LDS love to support BYU, and
whatever other schools they attend. That's terrific. It's a good
school, and LDS should be proud of it...and there's a lot of LDS, and the
world is looking at them right now...And who becomes the voice of BYU fandom? Oh
boy, SammyG. Embarrassing. With great exposure comes great responsibility. If
the fans would only step up and be as classy as say Air Force, or Notre Dame;
then the world would grant the school a little more respect. (and yes, I have
been to a lot of games at both those places and the fans are impressive) To BYU
Fans: remember who you are and what you represent.